3 killed, 17 injured in overnight shootings

Peter Nickeas

At least three people were killed and at least 17 others wounded, including nine teenagers, in shootings across the city late Friday night and early Saturday morning.

Two sisters were shot in the head in the 2300 block of North Harding Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood at about 4:40 a.m., police said. One woman, identified as Isabella Martinez, 22, of the Harding Avenue address, was found dead at the scene and the other sister, 35, was hospitalized in serious condition, police said, citing preliminary reports. The age of the deceased victim was not immediately available. Police were speaking to another family member as a person of interest in the attack, which was believed to be domestic-related.

A security guard was shot in the chest and possibly stabbed at a gas station in the 400 block of South Pulaski Road at about 4 a.m., police said, citing preliminary reports. Dennis Fox, 53, was dead on the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. A suspect was being questioned.

A 29-year-old man was shot and killed across from the Lake View High School at the intersection of Ashland Avenue and Irving Park Road early this morning in the city’s Lake View neighborhood, according to police. The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the man as Louis Cotto. Cotto was standing on a corner when shots were fired in a possible drive-by shooting at about 1:20 a.m, police said. He was shot in his chest and back and was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said. Nobody is in custody, police said.

A boy and a girl, both aged 17, were shot at about 2:15 a.m. in the 7500 block of South Dante Avenue in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, Chicago Police News Affairs Sgt. Al Stinites said. The boy was shot in his leg and the girl in her foot, and both were transported to Jackson Park Hospital, he said.

A 25-year-old man was shot in his back at 71st and Halsted Avenue Street at about 2:15 a.m., police said. He was initially listed in serious condition. Additional details weren't immediately available.

A 56-year-old man was shot in the 4100 block of West Adams Street in the West Garfield Park neighborhood at about 1:30 a.m., police said. He was walking with a friend when someone approached him and shot him in the arm and leg. He’s in stable condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.

A 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were shot in the 13200 block of South Langley Avenue in the Altgeld Gardens housing complex on the Far South Side at about 1:30 a.m., police said. A group of people was chasing a second group and someone in the first group shot at the victims while they were running away, hitting the 16-year-old in his leg and hitting the 20-year-old in his abdomen, according to Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli. The teen was taken to Roseland Community Hospital and the older man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in suburban Oak Lawn, Mirabelli said.

A 17-year-old boy was shot in the back in the 7400 block of South Blackstone Avenue at about 1:20 a.m. and is in serious condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. He was sitting in the back seat of a vehicle when someone approached and shot into the car. The boy was driven to the University of Chicago Hospital and then transferred to Mount Sinai, police said.

At about 12:30 a.m., a 22-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were shot in the 2600 block of South Ridgeway Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood, police said. The man was shot in his chest and ankle and the teen was shot in his leg, police said. Both victims are in stable condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. They were standing in a backyard and were shot after a gun was fired from inside a light-colored SUV in an alley behind the house, police said. The SUV fled north in the alley.

A 41-year-old man was shot in his forearm, buttocks and suffered a graze wound to his head on the 3900 block of South Indiana Avenue in the Bronzeville neighborhood at about 11:30 p.m. Friday. He was involved in an argument with the person who shot him, police said. The shooter pulled out a gun, opened fire and fled the scene. The victim was transported in serious condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Mirabelli said.

A 24-year-old man was shot in the 8400 block of South Carpenter Street at about 11:10 p.m. in the city’s Gresham neighborhood. He was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center after being shot in his abdomen, Mirabelli said. The shooting followed an altercation between the victim and the offender, who isn’t in custody, Mirabelli said.

A 17-year-old boy was shot in his neck while sitting in a car at a stop light on the 7600 block of South Chicago Avenue at about 11:10 p.m., police said. It wasn't clear whether the boy was transported to the hospital by the Chicago Fire Department or whether he was driven in the same car, police said.

A 37-year-old man was shot in his groin in the 800 block of North Noble Street at about 10 p.m. in the Noble Square neighborhood, police said. Police responded to a shots fired call and found someone yelling that his friend had been shot, Mirabelli said. Police caught two “persons of interest” and recovered a handgun. The victim was shot once in the thigh and once in the wrist, Mirabelli said, and transported to Stroger Hospital.

Two other boys, age 16 and 17, were shot as they left a restaurant on the 3200 block of West Cermak Road at about 9:40 p.m. on Friday in the Little Village neighborhood, police said. The 16-year-old was in stable condition at Mount Sinai Hospital and the 17-year-old was in stable condition at Stroger Hospital, police said.

A 15-year-old was accidentally shot in the 7900 block of South Christiana Avenue in the Ashburn neighborhood at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, police said. He was standing with a man who was showing him a gun when the gun went off. The man will likely face gun charges, police said.